phones

This story will move only those who have a heart.

The remainder -- well, perhaps they man the judicial system in Cameroon.

Jean-Claude Roger Mbede, 32, wanted to express his love by text. He sent this: "I am very much in love with you."

The only problem is that Mbede lives in Cameroon. There, as the Associated Press reports, homosexual conduct is illegal. And Mbede sent the text to another man.

The police arrested him on suspicion of homosexuality. His phone, to them, confirmed it.

So he was sent to jail for three years in 2011.

Reason appeared … Read more

Samsung Electronics is the new leader in cell phones.

Already ahead of the pack in smartphones, Samsung extended its dominance over the entire worldwide handset industry by displacing longtime cell phone king Nokia, according to a study by IHS.

The role reversal illustrates how fast Samsung has risen, thanks largely to its Galaxy S smartphone franchise, and how far Nokia has fallen. Prior to this year, Nokia enjoyed a 14-year reign atop the cell phone market, though its past few years were propped up by its legacy Symbian platform.

Samsung controlled 29 percent of the overall cell phone market, and … Read more

China is now the world's largest Android market, market researcher Informa said today.

Informa estimates that about 786 million smartphones will be sold worldwide by the end of the year, up 45 percent compared with 2011. Total Android-based smartphone sales this year will hit 461 million units. One-third of all of the Android devices sold in 2012 were sold in China, making it the world's largest Android market.

That figure becomes all the more staggering when one considers that the United States is in second place with 11 percent of all Android device sales this year.

The fact … Read more

Nokia has undergone a significant cultural and identity shift under the leadership of CEO Stephen Elop.

Elop didn't wait too long after he joined the company in September 2010 as CEO to make a splash. Five months into his tenure, he decided to drop the company's home-grown next-generation platform for Windows Phone, which just so happens to be created by his former employer.

But perhaps it's the changes within Nokia that will ultimately have the largest impact in the company's bid to turn itself … Read more

HELSINKI, Finland -- I came here to listen for a death rattle.

It was a late Monday morning in late November when I arrived, and there was no sunlight. None. The sky was gray, bleaching out the city's colorful buildings. I asked the cab driver whether it would get any brighter, but he wasn't confident. The sun comes up late in the day and fades early in the afternoon this time of year. As even the Finns concede with a stoic chuckle, it's depressing.

Unsurprisingly, it's considered the worst time of the year to travel to … Read more

What are you willing to sacrifice to make your iPhone really stand out from the crowd? How about the use of its camera? OK. How about your dignity, too? Great, I have just the case for you. It's the Lobster Mobile Telephone Case from Noddy Boffin.

Way back in 1938, Salvador Dali created a piece known as the "lobster telephone." It involves a lobster attached to the handset of a rotary-dial phone. Flash-forward to 2012 and Australian designer Elliot Gorham channels the ghost of Dali into an accessory for modern smartphones. … Read more

The holidays have arrived. I'm sure with the launch of the new iPads, many young ones may find them, or possibly iTunes gift cards, in their stockings. In light of this, I bring good tidings.

Starting December 21 and running through January 2, Disney Publishing has specially priced some of its more popular titles, including Tangled: Storybook Deluxe; Brave: Storybook Deluxe; Finding Nemo: Storybook Deluxe; and Cars 2: Storybook Deluxe. Normally retailing for $6.99 with the exception of Cars 2 at $5.99 in the iTunes App Store, they will all be reduced to $2.99. … Read more

Apple's prospects are dimming! Wait, the company is poised for a comeback! It all depends on which analyst you choose to listen to these days.

In an investors note released yesterday, Citi analyst Glen Yeung lowered his rating on Apple stock to Neutral from Buy. Citi initiated coverage of Apple last month, issuing a Buy rating based on an expected recovery from the stock's then "near-term trough."

But with the share price now below $500, Yeung now sees the "likelihood of any near-term rally as diminished." Though he expects the stock to eventually rebound, … Read more

HTC decided against launching a Windows Phone 8 handset it had planned because of Microsoft's restrictions on display resolution, a new report claims.

HTC was ready to get working on a large-screen Windows Phone 8 device, but believed that Microsoft's limit on screen display resolutions of 1,280x720 and 1,280x768 would have made its handset look less appealing compared with Android alternatives, Bloomberg is reporting today, citing people with knowledge of HTC's thinking.

Google's Android platform has no such restrictions on display quality. In fact, the Droid DNA that HTC released recently comes with a … Read more